Thailand Struggles To Lure Tourists Back to Its Beaches

Canadian Gilles Chenier spent the past month on Kamala Beach in Phuket, Thailand, where five months ago he ran for his life to escape a tsunami that killed more than 270 people on the island.“I am staying at the same place that I was when the tsunami struck,” said Mr. Chenier, a semi-retiree, who ran inland when the December 26 wave struck, escaping with minor injuries. “I am a bit scared. Forty-six people died on the street here.”Five months ahead of the traditional high season, Thailand’s government hopes Mr. Chenier is in the vanguard of a tourist return. The nation set up a tsunami-warning system, is spending $750 million rebuilding Phuket, Krabi, and Phangnga, and invited groups including the Miss Universe pageant in a bid to lure back visitors. With hotel and airline bookings still down 70%, analysts say more is needed to revive an industry that made up 6.4% of Thailand’s $164 billion economy in 2004.“The recovery of the tsunami-affected areas is taking a little longer than originally expected – particularly in Krabi and Phuket,” said Don Birch, chief executive of Abacus International, Asia’s biggest airline-ticketing agent. “The aftermath is often worse than the disaster.”Forecasts by Thailand’s tourism authority that in 2005 a record 13.4 million tourists would visit the country were shattered just nine days after they were published. Early on December 26, earthquake-triggered tsunami waves killed about 5,400 people – half of them foreign vacationers. In the following days, thousands of tourists fled.Earnings at tourism companies suffered in the three months ending in March. Thai Airways, the nation’s biggest carrier, said profit fell 34% after it cut 15% of its flights. Laguna Resorts & Hotels, which runs five of the top beachfront resorts in Phuket including the Sheraton Grande, reported a loss of $2.4 million in the quarter against a profit of $5.55 million a year earlier. Hotel operating revenue more than halved.Pacific Assets, which owns Le Meridien Hotel and Phuket Yacht Club Hotel in Phuket, reported a loss of $77,000, from a profit of $1.8 million a year earlier. Safari World, which owns the Phuket FantaSea theme park, reported that its loss doubled in the first quarter, to $2.1 million. Visitors to the park fell to 30,793, from 185,317 a year earlier.Tourist numbers haven’t recovered along with the cleanup, according to Abacus’s Mr. Birch. Total bookings for Phuket and Krabi in April and May fell more than 70%.“We have seen some recovery of reservations to Phuket. Krabi bookings are still very low,” Mr. Birch said, without giving numbers.International arrivals at Phuket’s airport plunged 71% in the first three months of 2005, to 97,957 from 336,111 a year earlier, data from the Tourism Authority of Thailand shows. Airports of Thailand, which operates five international airports including Bangkok and Phuket, said operating profit fell 5.8% in the quarter.Closely held Phuket Airline Company stopped flying to at least two of its four international destinations, leased out part of its Boeing 747 fleet and grounded the remainder for maintenance after passenger numbers fell between 50% and 60% this year, an executive vice president, Chawanit Chiamcharoenvut, said in an interview May 6.June through August is usually the peak season for Asian tourists in Phuket, led by Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan. The European season starts around October, and attracts the most visitors from Britain, Germany, and Sweden.Some companies are optimistic. Thai Air’s executive vice president, Vasing Kittikul, predicted profit may more than double more than $500 million in its fiscal year ending September 30.Minor International, Thailand’s biggest hotel and fast-food restaurant operator, which lost a fully insured Anantara Khao Lak resort in the southern province of Phang Nga, and saw sales drop at its J.W. Marriott hotel in Phuket, is also upbeat.“Phuket I think will be back to normal by the end of this year, because the toll there was limited to about 200 people,” said William Heinecke, chief executive of Minor International. “In Phi Phi and Khao Lak, where about 4,500 people died and all the hotels were virtually wiped out, I think it will take a lot longer.”Still, efforts to revive the industry are being impeded by violence in Thailand’s southern provinces, tourism authorities said. More than 600 police, soldiers, and civilians have been killed since January 2004 in the south. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has blamed Muslim rebels for the violence as they fight for autonomy in three provinces. Thailand’s population is more than 90% Buddhist.Others say superstition is keeping Asian travelers away.“Last week we invited a Buddhist delegation from Japan and Taiwan to have a spiritual ceremony here in Khao Lak and Patong beach,” the tourism authority’s assistant director for Phuket, Krabi, and Phang Nga, Anoma Vongyai, said. “The monks prayed and blessed the beaches,” Ms. Vongyai said from Phuket.Tourism businesses can only hope the blessing works.

Thailand Struggles To Lure Tourists Back to Its Beaches

More from the New York Sun

Alabama Lawmakers Consider Bill That Would Make It a Felony To Intentionally Disrupt a Church Service

‘High Spirits’ Brings a Forgotten Musical Back From the Dead

Former Beauty Queen Booted From White House Religious Liberty Panel After ‘Hijacking’ Antisemitism Hearing

Jobs Surge in January Deals Blow to Trump’s Push for Interest Rate Cuts

New Ransom Note Sent to TMZ as Investigators Experience Progress and Setbacks in 10-Day Search for Nancy Guthrie

House Democrats Announce Plans To Host Field Hearing with Epstein Victims in Trump’s Back Yard

America Plummets to All-Time Low in Global Corruption Index

FAA Abruptly Bans All Flights Around El Paso for 10 Days, Lifts the Restrictions Within Hours